How To Make Strawberry Applesauce

Want to know how to make strawberry applesauce? You’re in the right place! Enjoy this super-sweet, fruity and delicious recipe.

Strawberry applesauce is a classic recipe. Not only are strawberries a great summer fruit, but they also make some of the best homemade snacks, desserts, and jams. Here’s how you can easily make this applesauce recipe at home.

Table of Contents

Easy Strawberry Applesauce

Simmer fresh strawberries and apples together for this no-added-sugar Strawberry Applesauce. It’s ready in 30 minutes and is a healthy baby food puree toddlers will love too!

Strawberry Applesauce

My kids love picking out applesauce pouches from the store, but those little containers can add up and they often include added sugars. And since they particularly like the Strawberry Applesauce flavor, I thought I’d try making it at home. I’m so delighted to share this recipe which is both really easy to make and completely delicious.

Applesauce Recipe without Added Sugar

The natural sugars in the fruits cook down to make a plenty sweet homemade applesauce with a pretty pink hue. I was surprised by how pleasant the flavor was without anything added to the fruit and I think you will be too. It’s so satisfying to make a recipe with lots of yummy flavor using only two fresh ingredients!

Ingredients

This recipe is super simple and all you need to make it is a quart of fresh strawberries and 4 medium fresh apples.

What kind of apples are best in this applesauce?

You can really use any type of apple though I would recommend not using a tart apple since we’re not adding any extra sweetener to balance that out. Try these varieties of apples for this applesauce recipe:

0 seconds of 10 secondsVolume 0%

Gala
Pink Lady
Fuji
Honeycrisp
Jonagold
Sweet Tango

Can I make this recipe using frozen strawberries?

You can use a 16 ounce bag of frozen strawberries if you prefer though I do like the flavor that the fresh berries add. (The kids may not notice one way or the other!)

how to make strawberry applesauce step by step

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here’s a look at the basics of how to make this recipe. (Scroll down to the recipe card for all of the details.)

Peel the skin from the apples. (photo 1)
Dice the fruit and add to a medium or large pot. (photo 2)
Add water just until it reaches the fruit. (photo 3)
Simmer. (photo 4)
Transfer to a blender. (photo 5)
Blend until smooth. (photo 6)

Do I have to remove the apple peels?

You can keep them on the apples if you want, though you’ll likely need to blend the mixture much longer to get a very smooth texture. So if your kids don’t mind more texture in their applesauce, you can leave them on. Otherwise, you can give the peels to older toddlers or kids as a snack, add them to a zip top freezer bag in the freezer and use them in future smoothies, or you can always compost them.

Homemade Applesauce Pouches

To keep our food budget in check and to make my toddler happy, I love to make a batch of this applesauce and serve it in reusable pouches. It’s easy to send to daycare, preschool, or school this way, and it’s so much less expensive than buying store-bought pouches.

What should I serve this unsweetened applesauce with?

We like it stirred into yogurt and oatmeal, in a reusable pouch as a snack, alongside any dinner that includes roasted chicken or turkey, or as part of a snacky lunch with cheese and crackers. It’s really versatile!

Tips for Making the Best Strawberry Applesauce

Vary the flavor with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or a dash of cinnamon.
Use fresh or frozen strawberries.
Sweeten the applesauce with a little honey if desired.
Serve warm or cold.
To freeze, let cool completely and freeze in a zip top freezer bag with as much air removed as possible, laid flat. Or in an airtight container. Thaw at room temperature or in the fridge. The thawed mixture may separate a little so stir it up before serving.
You can use any remaining liquid in the pot in smoothies or chill and add to your own sparkling water!
You may also like my Strawberry Puree, my Strawberry Muffins, and my easy Strawberry Smoothie.

I’D LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK IF YOU TRY THIS RECIPE, SO PLEASE COMMENT BELOW WITH FEEDBACK.

Easy Strawberry Applesauce

You can use any type of apple you like in this recipe.

5 FROM 3 VOTES

Prep Time10 minutes

Cook Time30 minutes

Total Time40 minutes

CuisineAmerican

Courseside

Calories89kcal

Servings6 (makes about 4 cups)

Ingredients

1x2x3x

▢16 ounce container fresh strawberries (about 3 heaping cups diced)
▢4 medium apples (about 6 cups diced; you can peel them if you prefer)
▢1 cup water

Instructions

Remove the stems from the berries, rinse, and dry lightly.
Peel the apples. Slice the fruit from the core and roughly dice.
Add berries and apples to a medium pot. Add 1 cup water.
Heat over high heat to bring to a boil, then lower to medium heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fruit into a blender leaving the excess liquid behind. Blend until smooth.
Serve warm or transfer to a airtight container and store in the fridge up to 5 days.

Notes

Vary the flavor with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or a dash of cinnamon.
Sweeten the applesauce with a little honey if desired.
Serve warm or cold.
To freeze, let cool completely and freeze in a zip top freezer bag with as much air removed as possible, laid flat. Or in an airtight container. Thaw at room temperature or in the fridge. The thawed mixture may separate a little so stir it up before serving.
You can use any remaining liquid in the pot in smoothies or chill and serve as natural juice.
Instant Pot: Add ingredients to the pot. Seal and cook on HIGH for 5 minutes. Manually release and proceed with the recipe.

Strawberry Applesauce

Level: Easy
Total: 50 min

Prep: 10 min
Inactive: 20 min
Cook: 20 min
Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients

Deselect All

5 apples (recommended: Cortland or McIntosh) 1 cinnamon stick

1/2 cup water

8 to 10 strawberries, stemmed and chopped

1/4 to 1/2 cup sugarAdd to Shopping List

Directions

Peel and core apples then cut into small chunks. In a large saucepan, bring apples, cinnamon stick, and water to a boil and simmer until apples are tender when poked with a fork, about 15 minutes. Add strawberries and cook 5 minutes more. Remove from heat. Press the mixture through a sieve over a bowl. Taste, and if sugar is needed, add now while the mixture is still warm. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Applesauce with Strawberries

Level: Easy
Total: 1 hr 5 min

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 45 min
Yield: 3 cups, 4 to 6 servings as a side dish

Ingredients

Deselect All

3 pounds McIntosh or other apple of choice (about 9 apples)

10 large frozen strawberries

1/3 cup sugar

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup water

1/8 teaspoon

Directions

Peel, core and slice apples 1/4-inch thick. Place apple slices in a large saucepan. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until a sauce consistency, about 45 minutes. Use a potato masher, if necessary, to break up any lumps, but leave slightly chunky.

HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY APPLESAUCE

This homemade strawberry applesauce recipe is not difficult to make. It is perfect for canning or making a small batch for the refrigerator!

When we went apple picking I ended up with twenty pounds of sweet apples begging to be turned into applesauce. I specifically saved my garden’s strawberry harvest this summer in preparation for this event because I wanted to up my applesauce game this year. Plain ol’ applesauce is good, but the entire family agrees strawberry applesauce is the best!

I love this homemade applesauce recipe because I have complete control over what goes in it. Using only simple ingredients, my easy recipe is free from excess processed sugar and uses only lemon juice as a preservative. I can feel good about serving this to my family!

INGREDIENTS AND SUBSTITUTIONS

Fresh Apples – You can always use your favorite varieties of apples, but if you want guidance on which apples make the best applesauce, McIntosh, Pink Lady, and Golden Delicious would each be a great type of apple to use.
Fresh Strawberries – Fresh strawberries have the best flavor, but frozen can also work.
Lemon – You can use bottled lemon juice as well. The juice of a lemon is important to use for canning because it raises the pH to safe levels for storage.

HOW TO MAKE IT

This particular recipe for Strawberry applesauce is no harder to make than traditional applesauce. You simply throw the tart apple slices and sweet strawberries in a large pot (or large saucepan) with lemon juice and water, then cook everything down on the stove top over medium heat until softened. You can even use a slow cooker for this step, it works well, but it will take longer.

Once softened, it is ready to turn into applesauce! Run it through a Food Mill to remove the apple skins and create an even consistency. Alternatively, you can also use a food processor, immersion blender, or traditional blender instead.

Pour your strawberry applesauce into canning jars and place them in the refrigerator for storage, or process them in a water bath for 25 minutes, if canning.

Homemade Strawberry Applesauce with apple slices and fresh strawberries.

HOW TO STORE APPLESAUCE

You have a few different options for storing your fresh batch of strawberry applesauce. This is able to be used as a canning recipe if processing in a water bath for long-term storage. Alternatively, the jars can be placed in the refrigerator if you don’t want to mess around with canning. If stored in the refrigerator, you can use any appropriate airtight container.

Another option is to freeze your applesauce. It is important not to freeze applesauce in the glass jars, or they could shatter in your freezer. Instead, placed it in an appropriate freezer container and store for up to three months.

Strawberry Applesauce

Strawberry Applesauce is a delicious twist to traditional Applesauce and just as easy to me. Perfect for canning or for refrigeration storage!

5 from 1 vote

Course: Canning

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Calories: 83kcal

Equipment

▢Quart Jars
▢Food mill

Ingredients

▢6 pounds apples
▢1 ½ pounds Strawberries Leaves removed
▢1 Lemon Juiced
▢1 cup Water

Instructions

Cut apples into eighths and place the slices into a large pot, discarding stems.
Add strawberries, lemon juice, and water to ensure fruit does not burn on the bottom of the pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Stir occasionally as it simmers to prevent burning.
Mash with a potato masher as apples soften and add additional water, if needed, to get desired consistency.
Placing food mill over a large bowl, work in batches to scoop all sauce out of the pot and run through mill. This will remove apple skins and seeds.
Place in sanitary quart jars and process in water bath for 25 minutes if canning, following all normal canning procedures, or place directly in refrigerator.

Slow Cooker Strawberry Applesauce

Slow Cooker Strawberry Applesauce is even better than store bought, no food coloring in this!

sliced apples and strawberries in round slow cooker

I had an abundant amount of apples this week and I picked up some beautiful strawberries to make this Slow Cooker Strawberry Applesauce. I love how well this recipe turned out. I wasn’t sure how the strawberries would stand out with all the apples, but they did perfectly. A perfect combination of flavors.

My daughter’s number one request for me to make is applesauce and this new Slow Cooker Strawberry Applesauce is her new favorite. She loves it straight out of a bowl. And I love it on buttered buttermilk toast.